News Bureau | ILLINOIS

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New book tells story of secret Hollywood studio that shaped the nuclear age
Jan 14, 2019 2:30 pm355 views
Two Illinois professors tell the story of a secret Hollywood studio at the heart of the Cold War and the early nuclear age.
Illinois, French partners digitizing Proust's letters
Dec 6, 2018 1:30 pm827 views
Illinois researchers and their French partners have created a website to make thousands of letters written by Marcel Proust available to the public.
Illinois presidents: What made them agents of change?
Dec 6, 2018 10:30 am211 views
With the “Land of Lincoln” celebrating its bicentennial, a historian looks at the influence of four Illinois-connected presidents.
English professor's first book tells stories of contemporary lives of black Americans
Dec 4, 2018 8:00 am768 views
Illinois author Nafissa Thompson-Spires has received national recognition for her first book, “Heads of the Colored People,” which uses humor and satire to tell the stories of black Americans.
Historian tells new story about England’s venerated ‘Domesday Book’
Nov 13, 2018 10:15 am1349 views
An Illinois historian tells a new story about England’s famous “Domesday Book” and what it tells us about the trauma of the Norman conquest.
Communities with less variety in housing types have higher foreclosure rates, say Illinois researchers
Nov 6, 2018 8:45 am593 views
Illinois researchers find that less variety in housing types leads to less stability and higher rates of foreclosures.
Illinois slavery book author to speak Nov. 8 as part of bicentennial series
Nov 1, 2018 1:45 pm166 views
Slavery in Illinois and the move to freedom will be the subject of a Nov. 8 lecture at the U. of I., part of a series commemorating the state’s bicentennial.
What does Brazil’s recent election mean for its future?
Nov 1, 2018 10:15 am186 views
Brazilian expert Jerry Davila analyzes the country’s election of a far-right president and what it might mean for the future.
Book tells story of integrated Illinois town founded by former slave
Oct 18, 2018 8:45 am1103 views
A new book by Illinois information sciences professors Gerald McWorter and Kate Williams-McWorter tells how a former slave founded an integrated town in western Illinois that became a station on the Underground Railroad.
Anderson to discuss 14th Amendment, citizenship, national identity in CAS Annual Lecture
Oct 11, 2018 8:00 am461 views
Illinois education scholar and dean James Anderson will deliver the Center for Advanced Study Annual Lecture on the 14th Amendment and citizenship, immigration and national identity.
Hopis have made their mark in the world of running, author says
Oct 1, 2018 11:45 am598 views
An American Indian studies professor tells a story of Hopi runners who ran with and often beat the world’s best.
Archives exhibit documents role of Albert Lee, early advocate for African-American students
Sep 6, 2018 11:00 am624 views
An exhibit at the University of Illinois Archives commemorates the contributions of Albert Lee, who is considered the unofficial first dean for African-American students.
Our brains process irony in emojis, words in the same way
Sep 5, 2018 12:45 pm1335 views
The brain processes ironic or sarcastic emojis in the same way it does ironic or sarcastic words.
What should we make of the ‘68 Chicago Democratic Convention now?
Aug 14, 2018 10:15 am974 views
A U. of I. political historian looks back 50 years at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
Latinos on TV: Where are they? And when should we laugh?
Aug 9, 2018 10:15 am508 views
Professor Isabel Molina-Guzman’s new book examines the role of Latinos in TV sitcoms, as well as the changing form of the genre in a “post-racial” television era.
Illinois lecturer receives Eisner Award for ‘Kindred’ graphic novel adaptation
Jul 31, 2018 9:15 am761 views
University of Illinois lecturer and alumnus Damian Duffy won an Eisner Award for the graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler’s science fiction novel “Kindred” that he created with U. of I. alumnus John Jennings.
Using an electronic device counteracts benefits of taking a break in nature, researchers find
Jul 18, 2018 8:45 am1891 views
Using a laptop negates the benefits that nature offers in recovering from mental fatigue, according to research from the University of Illinois.
Nina Baym, pioneer in the study of American women writers, has died
Jun 21, 2018 9:00 am2088 views
Nina Baym, an internationally recognized scholar of American literature and a pioneer in the field of study of American women’s writing, has died.
Book recounts pillaging of rare illustrations from university libraries
Jun 18, 2018 9:45 am2675 views
An expert on rare-book crimes tells the story of a thief who plundered libraries across the country, cutting irreplaceable antique illustrations from rare books.
Book examines development of Hinduism, literary and social culture in Nepal
Jun 14, 2018 10:00 am554 views
University of Illinois religion professor Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz writes about Nepal’s best-known Hindu narrative in her new book and what it tells us about the country’s culture and the history of Hinduism there.
Illinois research maps extreme-heat vulnerability in Chicago
May 11, 2018 1:15 pm1337 views
Two Illinois urban planning professors say responding to extreme heat waves has become more difficult in Chicago, as the most vulnerable residents have become more dispersed throughout the area.
Germanic languages and literatures professor named Getty Residential Scholar
May 4, 2018 8:00 am271 views
Illinois professor Mara Wade has been awarded a Getty Residential Scholar Grant. She’ll use the residency to work on her book on the relationship between public monuments and cultural politics in the city of Nuernberg.
Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Illinois acquires Isaac Newton manuscript
Apr 30, 2018 12:45 pm5290 views
The University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library has acquired a manuscript written by Sir Isaac Newton that includes instructions for making the philosopher’s stone.
Professor chronicles how Big Ten brought order to college football, then lost its way
Apr 25, 2018 10:45 am343 views
U. of I. historian Winton Solberg tells the story of the Big Ten’s first half-century, focusing on the organizers and issues rather than on-the-field action.
Washington University expert on religion, politics to give Thulin Lecture in Religion
Apr 5, 2018 8:15 am318 views
R. Marie Griffith, the director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, will talk about political and religious disagreements surrounding sex when she delivers the annual Majorie Hall Thulin Lecture in Religion at the University of Illinois.
Job of a Congress member not one size fits all, authors find
Mar 6, 2018 10:30 am663 views
The job of a Congress member is not one size fits all, say two U. of I. political scientists. In fact, there are five "legislative styles."
Illinois professor uses big data to research history of gender in fiction
Feb 27, 2018 9:00 am634 views
A big data research study by a University of Illinois professor shows a decline in the prominence of female characters in fiction and in the number of female authors from the 19th century to the 20th century.
Portrayals of doctors in comics have become more realistic, nuanced
Feb 20, 2018 8:45 am528 views
Depictions of medical doctors in comics have become less stereotypical and more realistic, says Carol Tilley, a University of Illinois professor of information sciences and a comics historian and scholar.
Emancipated blacks often targeted for relocation to the tropics
Feb 19, 2018 10:45 am426 views
Every significant emancipation of black enslaved people in North America came with plans to relocate them to tropical areas, says a U. of I. historian.
Doctors played a role in ideas about racial differences
Feb 6, 2018 9:45 am794 views
Physicians played a key role in defining racial differences in the age of slavery, planting ideas that have carried to the present day, says a U. of I. historian in a new book.
University of Illinois librarian to help Puerto Rican libraries with disaster recovery
Dec 21, 2017 4:15 pm2063 views
Miriam Centeno, the collections care coordinator for the University of Illinois Library, will spend two weeks in January in Puerto Rico helping librarians assess and repair damage to their collections from Hurricane Maria.
Six Illinois faculty members awarded NEH Fellowships
Dec 13, 2017 3:00 pm3242 views
Six University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty members have been awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships for 2018. It is the third year in the last four that the Urbana campus has garnered more fellowship awards than any other single institution.
U. of I. students propose designs to rehab Chicago industrial area
Dec 13, 2017 8:00 am1116 views
University of Illinois students developed ideas to revitalize an industrial area in Chicago, as part of an interdisciplinary collaboration involving graduate students in architecture, landscape architecture and urban and regional planning.
Library adds 14 millionth book, will create display recognizing millionth volumes
Dec 11, 2017 3:00 pm806 views
The University of Illinois Library has added its 14 millionth volume to its collection -- “The University of Illinois: Engine of Innovation” by Frederick E. Hoxie, a professor emeritus of history and American Indian studies, written to commemorate the U. of I.’s sesquicentennial. The Library will create a new, permanent display to recognize all its millionth volumes.
New book explores housewives, food and consumer protests in 20th-century America
Dec 4, 2017 9:00 am595 views
The rising cost of meat and the power of housewives to agitate for a more equitable standard of living is the focus of a new book by U. of I. labor and employment relations professor Emily E. LB. Twarog.
Events explore how technology, creativity interact to imagine the future
Oct 25, 2017 8:45 am679 views
A series of events at the University of Illinois called Speculative Futures will bring artists together with technology innovators with the goal of sparking new creative projects at the intersection of computer science and science fiction.
Research looks at white working-class views on identity, race and immigration
Oct 10, 2017 9:00 am1527 views
A new research study presents a perspective on the social and political views of white working-class communities.
Rare Book and Manuscript Library acquires papers of poet Haki Madhubuti and Third World Press
Sep 25, 2017 1:30 pm820 views
The Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois has acquired a collection of papers from poet Haki Madhubuti and from the Third World Press/Third World Press Foundation in Chicago – the oldest independent black-owned publisher in the U.S.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author to deliver Mortenson Distinguished Lecture
Sep 11, 2017 9:00 am468 views
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen will talk about war, forced migration and refugees when he gives the 27th Annual Mortenson Distinguished Lecture at the University of Illinois.
Vietnam War at 50: What has been the legacy of Agent Orange?
Sep 5, 2017 11:30 am1280 views
A historian looks at the Vietnam War herbicide Agent Orange and how it changed ideas about war wounds and the cause of birth defects.
Did news coverage turn Americans against the Vietnam War?
Sep 5, 2017 11:30 am5528 views
News coverage of the Vietnam War did not have the effect on popular support that many believe, says a University of Illinois researcher.
Book of essays considers how religions view other faiths
Sep 5, 2017 9:15 am621 views
University of Illinois religion professor Robert McKim edited a new book, “Religious Perspectives on Religious Diversity,” that explores how members of various religions view those outside of their faiths.
Illinois campus explores legacy of the Russian Revolution in its centennial year
Aug 29, 2017 9:15 am631 views
The Russian Revolution marks its centennial this year and the University of Illinois, a leading center of Slavic studies, is exploring the revolution’s legacy through a series of fall events.
Illinois historian receives NEH Public Scholar award, career prize for military history
Aug 3, 2017 9:45 am1001 views
John Lynn, a professor emeritus of history at Illinois, has received a selective NEH Public Scholar award less than six months after receiving the highest career award in the field of military history.
Researchers look at lessons learned from disaster recovery around the world
Jul 31, 2017 9:30 am523 views
A new book by Robert Olshansky, the head of the University of Illinois department of urban and regional planning and an expert in post-disaster recovery, details the lessons learned from disaster recovery all over the world that can guide governments in better responding to a large disaster.
University of Illinois alumna to head Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Jul 25, 2017 11:45 am3247 views
Lynne M. Thomas, who earned her master’s degree in library and information sciences at the University of Illinois, has been selected as the new head of the U. of I. Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Illinois information sciences professor edits book about trigger warnings
Jul 21, 2017 8:00 am522 views
Emily Knox, a professor in the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences, is the editor of a book that looks at the controversial topic of the use of trigger warnings in the classroom.
University of Illinois hosting inaugural human-animal studies institute
Jul 5, 2017 9:30 am553 views
The University of Illinois is hosting a Human-Animal Studies Summer Institute -- the first of its kind in the emerging interdisciplinary field.
Chancellor’s Medallion awarded to three who have preserved University of Illinois history
Jun 23, 2017 9:15 am1179 views
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will award the Chancellor’s Medallion -- the highest campus honor -- to three men who have dedicated their professional lives to preserving the history of the university.
Illinois Library celebrates poet Gwendolyn Brooks’ birth centennial with interactive website
Jun 7, 2017 10:00 am750 views
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library has created an interactive website featuring memories of Brooks and items from her papers housed at the U. of I.

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